Alaskan Port Question

[TexasBlue7]

Has anyone taken an Alaskan cruise that included Sitka? Thinking about Celebrity Infinity cruise to Hubbard Glacier via Sitka. Any advantage/disadvantages to Sitka vs Icy Strait Point?

[Texas Tillie]

Sitka is one of my most favorite Alaska ports. It's an interesting town. Loved going out on the water and seeing the scenery and the wild life. The otters are so cute!! The Russian history is also interesting. I've been to Sitka twice and Icy Strait Point once and I'd pick Sitka every time.

[Kamloops50]

I prefer Sitka over Icy point any day .There isn't much in Icy Point that not there to make money . Price are higher than else where in Alaska for the same thing.

[zqvol]

We love Sitka, won't do an Alaskan cruise unless it includes Sitka.

[Sequim88]

Sitka is fantastic for the scenery. What to do there depends on physical capability. We've already done the things we can handle (raptor center, native art place, town bus tour and Russian Dancers) so we will probably just walk around the town a bit. A lot of history there though.

 

Icy Straight Point is a sort of contrived tourist trap. My son and his wife were both underwhelmed big time so we've scratched it from planning.

[donaldsc]

Sitka is a real town with a long history since the mid 1800's that would still exist even if the tourists disappeared. Icy Point Strait although sort of interesting is a fake destination that would disappear if the tourists disappeared. The Tlingit native peoples who live in Hoonah and who own the tourist facilities in Icy Point Strait are real but the tourist stuff is not.

 

DON

[jmf123]

I loved Sitka on our HAL cruise! We booked a jetboat tour and saw lots of wildlife- whales, sea otters, bald eagles up in the trees, it was wonderful! The boat had an enclosed lower deck with large windows, and an open upper deck. Hot chocolate and tea were served. Afterward, we enjoyed walking through the town (Lincoln St.?) and stopped into The Chocolate Moose among other places. I would love to go back someday. Never been to Icy Strait Point, but it does have the world's longest ziprider: http://icystraitpoint.com/tour/worlds-largest-ziprider-and-scenic-mountain-ascent/.

[Crew News]

Sitka is a great location for wildlife (Fortress of the Bears, Raptor Center, whales, otters, deer, eagles, etc.), Russian souvenirs, and real history. There is a drugstore with a real food counter from the '50's. Authentic Alaskan community.

[Krazy Kruizers]

On our first Alaskan cruise back in the 80's, Sitka was one of our ports.

We fell in love with the town. Have been back there many times. So many interesting things to see. We have done the Wildlife and Sea Otter excursion a couple of times.

I much prefer Sitka over Icy Straight.

[Chocolate Rose]

We're doing a HAL cruise next May that goes to Sitka, Hubbard, AND Icy Straight Point. Maybe something for you to consider?

[avigreta]

We are planning our first Alaskan/tour cruise. So far have been guided to Princess and Royal Caribbean by friends. Would appreciate feedback and suggestions on particular cruise lines, cruises, etc. It's also been suggested to do land first, then cruise which could be more relaxing. We are basically novices to Alaska as well as cruising in general. Thanks in advance.

[57redbird]

HAL does Sitka....it's a unique town.

[donaldsc]

Has anyone taken an Alaskan cruise that included Sitka? Thinking about Celebrity Infinity cruise to Hubbard Glacier via Sitka. Any advantage/disadvantages to Sitka vs Icy Strait Point?

 

Sitka is a real town with a real history. Icy Strait is a contrived tourist trap that did not exist until the native peoples set it up to attract cruise ships and to take money from the tourists. Check out this link - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icy_Strait_Point - versus this one - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sitka,_Alaska on Wikipedia.

 

DON

[Kamloops50]

Sitka is town that you can do easily on your own.

 

 

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[Sequim88]

Contrary to our original plan we recently booked a combo tour at Sitka through HAL. Birds, Bears and Barnacles (Raptor Center, Fortress of the Bear and fish hatchery/aquarium) because it was wheelchair accessible and guarantied wheelchair capable transport. Great thing about Sitka now is they have an actual dock so no need to tender unless there are multiple ships visiting on the same day (Sitka 2017 Schedule) . Ships listed as OSD are at the dock which is a few miles out of town but they have buses to town from there.